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Science Centre, Hull

Part 1 Project 2004
Cate Bridgeman
Federica Giardino
University of Lincoln Lincoln | UK
20th century science has rewritten the relationship between observer and observed, space and time, matter and light. The observer becomes an integral part of the system under observation. Space and time are warped by motion through them. Matter and light are interchangeable. This is a violent departure from the Newtonian-Descartian paradigm of space and time as absolute and immutable – a place where objective observation was possible.

I began by undertaking a series of investigations to examine the way the cartesian rigidity of the square is transformed by the motion of people through the space. The resulting set of images, models and animations formed a resource for the development of the design project.

The chosen site, a disused dock on the river Hull, is rich in potential. Its proximity to the learning quarter, the museums quarter and science and technology based businesses make it an attractive prospect for a leisure and knowledge-based development.

The scheme proposes a science centre comprising 3 pavilions in a landscaped park. A timeline guides the visitor through the history of scientific thought from its origins in ancient Greece to the present day and beyond. These explorations are structured around the three enduring lines of inquiry that have dominated this journey:

the nature of space and time
the nature of growth and change
the nature of matter and light.

The pavilions present 3 contemporary results of these inquiries: relativity, chaos theory and quantum mechanics. They were informed by considering the 3 states of matter - solid, liquid and gas as interpretatios of the earlier investigations. Each occupies a cuboid, but adopts the characteristics of the state it represents
the solid pavilion explores opacity and compression
the liquid pavilion explores translucency, calm and turbulence
the gas pavilion explores transparency and transience

Finally, back in the landscape, the visitor can explore the

Cate Bridgeman
Federica Giardino


Cate’s project began as an examination of spatial traces left by pedestrians in a public square. These ‘spatial mementos’ were explored, analysed and reconstituted using time-lapse video. The process adopted concerned itself with the nascence of architectural expression and the formalising of propositions from an individual interpretation of the ‘space between’, the obvious and the immaterial, and the phenomena that exist there.
Her microscopic examination of place-specific events and artefacts facilitated a disconnection from the arid, traditionally accepted determinants of initial place-assessment (site analysis), and fostered the creation of
unexpected non-linear connections between diverse phenomena. The resultant scheme is an exuberant collection of forms and spaces in a post industrial dock site in Hull.

Tutor(s)
Dr Jonathan Charley
2004
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